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Monthly Archives: December 2016

This isn’t about politics! In Mexico, when a car ahead of you activitates a left turn signal, there is much ambiguity. ¿Is the driver signaling a left turn, or telling us to go around, (to pass, to overtake)? It’s impossible to know! In this country, it could be either. This is what logicians and computer programers call insufficient argument (something which can’t be decided based on the evidence at hand).It’s dangerous, and dysfunctional; yet it persists, and is unlikely to change anytime soon.

If you mistakenly believe the driver ahead of you is inviting you to pass, but instead the car turns left while you’re passing, both vehicles could crash. If you believe the driver really is about to turn left, you may be stuck behind a slow vehicle for a long time, maybe even until the signal does finally mean left turn.

Ambiguity on the road is one of the crazy things about this culture. It’s easy to misread. Why the culture refuses to recognize the danger of ambiguity is impossible to understand. “It’s the way we’ve always done it.” Yet, signaling a right turn always means go around me (if the road ahead is clear). Why is confusion preferred over clarity? Why is danger chosen over safety? Dunno! Those who refuse to use logic will contribute to greater risk. (Signaling a right turn always indicates a slowing vehicle.) I like to think that good thinking is infectious, perhaps enough to effect change; but I suspect it will be a long time coming.

The Phantom slowly, gravely, silently, approached. When it came near him, Scrooge bent down upon his knee; for in the very air through which this Spirit moved it seemed to scatter gloom and mystery. It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand. […] It thrilled [Scrooge] with a vague uncertain horror, to know that behind the mask there were eyes staring at him. A Christmas Carol, 1843, ~Charles Dickens

…God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.

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An open letter to my Congressman, and yours: I am a veteran who risked my life for four years defending this nation. I own a few guns, which is my right under our Constitution. But rights come saddled with duties. You, sir, have not served; but you do have a duty of care […]

Dear Google, Clearly, you don’t know me. This morning I was briefly tempted to leave a comment on a respected blog, but was required to login by any number of social media; but I don’t belong. As I rarely use your search engine, and availed myself many years ago of your kind offer to expunge […]

Recently there was a lecture hosted at Merida English Library in which a highly-educated and experienced water engineer, born in Merida many years ago, explained the alarming decline of Merida’s pristine underground water. In early December there was also a major article in the newspaper, Diario de Yucatan, on this same topic. (The Diario article is presently […]

I love good stories. I love to read them and think about them. So, I was distressed when, in grad’ school, a teaching assistant suggested I read a book titled How to Read a Book. ¿Did he think I was illiterate? (I complied, of course.) And maybe I learned something about reading between the lines, and […]

¿ Would you risk a long prison term to save the planet ? Well, even if you wouldn’t, there’s a story which inspires hope — intentionally confronting the law and power by turning the tables on Big Carbon, at trial, for endangering life on Earth. The drama of real life, beyond mere entertainment!